Video Production Tip : Sunshine – It’s Awful

Of course I like sunshine really, but not if it starts appearing randomly as a bright light on my interviewee’s or actor’s face, or anywhere else in the shot.

Apart from causing squinting and irritation, it will create exposure, white balance and continuity problems – as will any change in natural light leaking into the room.

The point here is: to keep it consistent, you need to be in control of the lighting on your video shoot. So you need professional, dimmable lights; although daylight is free it’s not easy to control unless you shoot in a room with blinds or curtains – so ensure that they are there, or carry a drape or portable screen.

That reminds me of an incident in the BBC Director General’s office…

We only had a 10 minute slot to film DG Mark Thompson in his office at White City, for a BBC internal comms film – an office with huge, tall windows. Having set up the camera and lights, I tugged hard at the cord to close the window blinds – and the entire fixture ripped out of the ceiling and came crashing down around us!

Luckily Mr T saw the funny side, but there’s another video production tip here – relax, and take it easy!

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